Marking apparatus



July 11, 1967 w, w, DUPLER 3,330,041

MARKING APPARATUS Filed April 16, 1965 m .1 um i I %s DRAFTING MACHINE[NV/ENTOR mm MUa o/er I WXM United States Patent 3,330,041 MARKINGAPPARATUS William W. Dupler, Birmingham, Mich., assignor to GeneralMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr.16, 1965, Ser. No. 448,769 14 Claims. (Cl. 33-18) This invention relatesto improvements in marking apparatus for scribing lines on a surface.

In certain manufacturing procedures, e.g., those relating to vehiclebody manufacture, drawings are required of such an accuracy thatdimensions can be scaled directly from the drawing. Most drawings do notpermit this and, in fact, have notes of caution about scaling thedrawing, pirmarily because the blueprints of the master drawing mayshrink or stretch or the master drawing may either be slightly out ofscale or be of a different scale from the actual part. To permit thisdirect scaling, not only must the lines on a drawing be visible, butthey must be of a relatively constant and narrow width. Unless themarking is to be done by scratching or scribing, this involvesdepositing on the drawing surface some type of visible material from amarking element that will necessarily wear. Therefore, this wear must,in order to produce the constant width line, be controlled.

Accordingly, unique marking apparatus is proposed incorporating novelprovisions for moving a marking element so as to distribute the wearthereof and also to facilitate the making of. constant width marks,which can be virtually any width desired.

Also contemplated is a marking device that permits an elongated markingelement to be so moved during marking that the marking portion changesoften enough to accurately distribute wear of the marking element.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description and from the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows somewhat schematically marking apparatus incorporatingthe principles of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevational view, partially in section, ofa marking device employed by the FIG- URE 1 apparatus; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 show, respectively, enlarged sectional and perspectiveviews of the marking end of the marking device shown in FIGURE 2.

Referring first to the FIGURE 1 apparatus, the numeral denotes generallya marking device and the numeral 12 a drafting machine,.which can beadapted in any known 'way to maneuver either manually or automaticallythe marking device 10 relative .to the surface of a drawing 14. Thedrawing 14 may be made of any suiitable material; e.g., a paper-likematerial, metal, plastic, etc. If formed .of metal the sufrace can becoated with some type of substance that aids in defining the lines. Themarking device 10 employs an elongated marking element, such as a goldwire 16, that is continuously maneuvered as the marking device 10 movesalong the drawing 14 by a drive mechanism, viewed generally at 17. Themode of obtaining this will be'clescribed more in detail later. The goldwire is suggested for scribing a white coated metallic drawing 14. Ofcourse, wires of other materials can be used. The selection of materialswill generally be determined by the type of drawing used and therequirements of a particular job.

Considering nowthe details of the marking device 10 displayed in FIGURE2, the marking device 10 has an elongated support 18 provided with atapered marking end 20 and a spindle end 22. The spindle end 22 isformed by a hollow screw 24 that is threadedly attached to the support18. Axially spaced on the spindle end 22 and held in position thereon bythe screw 24 are a driving spool 26 and a driven spool 28. Alsothreadedly joined to the elongated support 18 is is a drive ring 30.Both the drive ring 30 and the driving spool 26 have suitable teeth at32 and 34 for respectively engaging chains 36 and 38 shown in FIGURE 1.Other type endless drive arrangements can be made, as will readily occurto those versed in the art. For instance, belts can be used, then too,direct connections by gearing or the like to be made.

The gold wire 16 extends around the marking end 20 via recessedguideways 40 and grooves 42, each extending lengthwise along theelongated body 18 and on opposite sides thereof. The structure exposes aminimum amount of the wire at a tip 44 of the tapered end 20 to thedrawing surface so that a relatively thin line can be made, keeping inmind that thin lines are easier to scale accurately. As viewed in FIGURE4, the tapered end 20 is constructed by forming opposite, somewhat flatdiverging surfaces, as at 46, in which the recessed guideways 40 areformed.

The marking device 10 is revolvably and axially mounted within a machinebracket 48 that includes a coil spring 50, which exerts a constantupward bias on the marking device 10. This upward bias is opposed by anadjustable downward bias obtained from an offset crank arm 52. Thisofiset crank arm 52 is rotatably adjustable and acts against a flangedrod 54 that extends downwardly through the hollow screw 24 and engages acoil spring 56 positioned within a center bore 58 in the elongatedsupport 18. The adjustment of the offset crank arm 52 accuratelyestablishes the pressure that the wire 16 is to exert on the surface ofthe drawing 14, and thus also contributes to the control of weardistribution.

The driving forces for revolving the driving spool 26 and the drive ring30 are, as mentioned, derived from the driving mechanism 17. Thisdriving mechanism 17 employs a drive wheel 60 that is rotatably mountedon a bracket 62 appropriately attached to the machine bracket 48. Thedrive wheel 60 is arranged so as to be in frictional contact with thesurface of the drawing 14 and, therefore, is revolved as the markingdevice 10' is moved by the drafting machine 12. Gearing 64 of a suitableratio is utilized to transfer this drive to the chains 36 and 38. Thegearing 64, as displayed, includes a rim gear 66 concentric with anddrive-connected to the drive wheel 60. The rim gear 66 drives a smallidler gear 68 that is concentric with and drive-connected to a largeidler gear 70. The large idler gear 70in turn drives a small driven gear72, which is concentric with and joined to a large driven gear 74. Thelarge driven gear 74 finally drives a face gear 76 that rotates a mainshaft 78 on which a pair of sprockets 80 and 82 are drive-mounted. Thegears 68 and 70, the gears 72 and 74, and the main shaft 78 are allrevolvably supported on the bracket 62.

The sprocket 80 directly drives the driving spool 26 through the chain38 while the sprocket 82 indirectly drives the drive ring 30 through achain 84, which drives an idler sprocket 86, and then through anotheridler sprocket 88, which drives the chain 36. Consequently, the drivering 30 and the'driving spool 26 are driven in opposite directions. Thedirection, of course, being determined by which way the drafting machine12 is moving the marking device 10 and correspondingly revolving thedrive wheel 60.

Reviewing. the operation, with the drafting machine 12 operative tomaneuver the marking device 10 along the surface of the drawing 14, thedrive wheel 60, as explained, will cause the gearing 64 to rotate thechains 36 and 38 and, accordingly, the drive ring 30 and the drivingspool 26 in opposite directions. Hence, the elongated support 18 will berotated while simultaneously the opposite rotation of the driving spool26 will cause the wire 16 to be moved relative to the tip 44 and, ofcourse, relative to the surface of the drawing 14. The wire 16 will beunwound from or wound on the driving spool 26 as determined by thedirection of rotation of the driving spool 26.

Assuming the wire 16 is being unwound from the driving spool 26 it will,of course, be wound on the driven spool 28. As is well appreciated thetwo spools 26 and 28 will have angular velocities determined by theamount of wire wound on each. For example, the spool with the most wirewound thereon will rotate as a slower speed than the other. Thisdifference in angular velocities is provided for by the FIGURE 2illustrated structure since the driving spool 26 and the driven spool 28are not driveconnected but permitted to have relative rotation. Theadjustment of the screw 24 is such, however, that there is a slightfrictional drag between the drive ring 30 and the driven spool 28 forassuring that the wire 16 is wound and unwound from the spools 26 and 28with the maintenance of the proper amount of tension so as to avoid theintroduction of slack that would interfere with the obtaining of aconstant width line.

As will be appreciated, with the wire 16 being constantly moved the Wearis distributed, and with the wire 16 being of gold a corresponding goldmark is made on the surface of the drawing 14. This wear distributioncontributes to the control of the width of this mark. Furtherfacilitating this attainment of a constant width is the rotation of theelongated support 20 itself about its axis. The amount of gold depositedon the drawing 14 can be, of course, modified by adjusting the pressureexerted by the offset arm 52, whereas the width of the line isdetermined by the sizes of the wire 16 and the tip 44. The amount ofwire 16 used, i.e., to be unwound from one of the spools, should bechosen so that the drafting machine 12 can move the marking device theentire length of the drawing 14 before reversing directions and the wire16 commences to rewind.

Then too, the movement of the wire 16 both lengthwise and about the axisof the support 18 is produced by the driving mechanism 18, which isself-driven so that coordination between the movement of the gold wire16 is made with the movement of the marking device 10 across the drawing14.

The invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for marking a member, the combination of a markingdevice having an elongated movable marking element arranged so as tohave a portion thereof engageable with the member, means maneuvering themarking device relative to the member, and drive means adapted to travelalong the member and receive drive therefrom, the drive means being alsoadapted to transfer the drive to the marking element for moving themarking element lengthwise in synchronism with the movement of themarking element by the maneuvering means so that the portion thereof inengagement with the member changes to facilitate distribution of wear ofthe marking element and also to facilitate the making of a constantwidth mark on the member.

2. In apparatus for marking a member, the combination of a markingdevice having an elongated marking element movably mounted thereon andarranged so as to have a portion thereof in engagement with the member,means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member, drive meansadapted to travel along the member so as to receive drive therefrom, thedrive means being also adapted to transfer the drive to the markingelement both for revolving the marking device relative to the member andfor moving the marking element lengthwise so that the portion thereof inengagement with the member continuously changes to facilitate thedistribution of wear of the marking element and also to facilitate themaking of a constant width mark on the member.

3. In apparatus for marking a member, the combination of a markingdevice having a wire-like marking element movably mounted thereon andarranged so as to have a portion thereof in engagement with the member,means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member, drive meansadapted to travel along the member so as to receive drive therefrom, thedrive means being also adapted to transfer the drive to the markingelement both revolving and moving lengthwise the marking elementrelative to the member and in synchronism with movement of the markingdevice by the maneuvering means relative to the member so as todistribute the wear of the marking element and also enable a constantwidth mark to be made on the member.

4. In apparatus for marking a member, the combination of a markingdevice, means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member, themarking device having a wire-like movable marking element arranged so asto have a portion thereof engageable with the member, and drive meansadapted to travel along the member and receive drive therefrom fortransfer to the marking element so as to move the marking elementlengthwise in synchronism with the movement of the marking device by themaneuvering means so as to facilitate the distribution of wear of themarking element and also to facilitate the making of a constant widthmark on the member, and means maintaining a predetermined pressurebetween the marking element and the member.

5. In apparatus for marking a member; the combination of a markingdevice; means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member; themarking device having a wire-like movable marking element arranged so asto have a portion thereof engageable with the member, and meansrendering the marking element movable lengthwise so that the portion inengagement with the member changes to facilitate wear distribution andalso to facilitate the making of a constant width mark on the member;means permitting the marking device to be revolved to further facilitatewear distribution and the making of the constant width mark on themember; and drive means adapted to travel along the member and receivedrive therefrom for transfer to the marking element both for revolvingthe marking device and for moving lengthwise the marking element.

6. In apparatus for marking a member; the combination of a markingdevice; means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member; themarking device including driving and driven spools, a support having thedriving and driven spools revolvably positioned thereon for rotationrelative to each other, and an elongated marking element having oppositeends thereof respec tively wound on the driving and driven spools andarranged on the support so as to engage the member; and means revolvingthe driving spool so as to cause the marking element to be movedrelative to the member thereby facilitating the distribution of wearthereof and also facilitating the making of a constant width mark on themember.

7. In apparatus for marking a member; the combination of a markingdevice; means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member; themarking device including driving and driven spools, an elongated supporthaving the driving and driven spools revolvably mounted on one endthereof and having a guideway at the other end thereof, and a markingwire extending by way of the guideway between the driving and drivenspools and having the opposite ends thereof respectively wound on thedriving and driven spools; and a drive mechanism for transferring driveto the driving spool; the drive mechanism including a drive wheelarranged so as to engage the member and receive drive therefrom, meanstransferring drive from the drive wheel to the driving spool in responseto the relative movement of the marking device relative to the member soas to continuously move the marking wire within the guideway tofacilitate both wear distribution of the marking wire and the making ofa constant width line on the member.

8. In apparatus for marking a member; the combination of a markingdevice; means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member; themarking device including driving and driven spools, a support having amarking end and a spool support end, the driving and driven spools beingpositioned on the spool support end for rotation relative to each other,and an elongated marking element having the opposite ends thereof woundrespectively on the driving and the driven spools and arranged so as toextend therebetween and by way of the marking end, the support alsobeing arranged so as to be revolvable; a drive mechanism for bothrevolving the support and the driving spool; the drive mechanismincluding a drive wheel operatively connected to the member so as toreceive drive therefrom and means transferring drive from the drivewheel both to the driving spool and to the support so as to continuouslymove the marking element for facilitating both wear distribution and themaking of a constant width mark.

9. In apparatus for marking. a member; the combination of a markingdevice; means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member soas to make a mark on the member; the marking device including anelongated support having a tapered marking end and a spindle at theopposite end, axially spaced driving and driven spools revolvablypositioned on the spindle for rotation relative to each other, theelongated support having guideways each extending lengthwise from themarking end and on opposite sides of the support, a marking wireextending by way of the guideways between the driving and driven spoolsso as to extend beyond the marking end and having the opposite endsthereof wound respectively on the driving and the driven spools, and adrive ring operatively connected to the support; and a drive mechanismarranged to revolve both the drive ring and the driving spool so as tocause the portion of the marking Wire in engagement with the member tocontinuously change and thereby facilitate both the distribution of wearand the making of a constant width mark; the drive mechanism including adrive wheel engageable with the member so as to be revolved thereby inresponse to relative movement between the member and the marking device,gearing driven by the drive wheel, and means for transferring drive fromthe gearing both to the drive ring and to the driving spool and inopposite directions as determined by the direction of rotation of thedrive wheel.

10. In apparatus for marking a member, the combination of a markingdevice, means maneuvering the marking device relative to the member soas to make a mark on the member, the marking device including anelongated support having a tapered marking end and a spindle at theopposite end, axially spaced driving and driven spools revolvablypositioned on the spindle for rotation relative to each other, theelongated support having guideways each extending lengthwise from themarking end on opposite sides of the support, a marking wire extendingby way of the guideways between the driving and driven spools so as toextend beyond the marking end and having the opposite ends thereof woundrespectively on the driving and the driven spools, a drive ring 6operatively connected to the support, and a drive mechanism arranged torevolve both the drive ring and the drive spool so as to cause theportion of the marking wire in engagement with the member tocontinuously change and thereby facilitate both the distribution of Wearand the making of a constant width mark, the drive mechanism including adrive wheel engageable with the member so as to be resolved thereby inresponse to relative movement between the member and the marking device,gearing driven by the drive wheel, endless chain means fortransferringdrive from the gearing both to the drive ring and the driving spool andin opposite directions as determined by the direction of rotation of thedrive wheel, and means adjustably establishing the pressure between themarking wire and the member.

11. A device for marking a member comprising a pair of spools, a supporthaving the pair of spools revolvably positioned thereon for rotationrelative to each other, and an elongated marking element having theopposite ends thereof wound on a respective one of the pair of spoolsand so arranged on the support as to extend therebetween and have aportion thereof in engagement with the member.

12. A marking device comprising an elongated support having a markingend provided with a guideway, a wirelike marking element arranged on thesupport so as to extend by way of the guideway beyond the marking end,and means arranged on the support so as to permit movement of themarking element relative to the marking end.

13. A marking device comprising a pair of spools, an elongated supporthaving the pair of spools revolvably mounted on one end thereof andhaving a guideway at the other end thereof, and a marking wire extendingby way of the guideway between the pair of spools and having theopposite ends thereof wound on a respective one of the pair of spools.

14. A marking device comprising an elongated support having a taperedmarking end and a spindle at the opposite end thereof, a pair of axiallyspaced spools revolvably positioned on the spindle for rotation relativeto each other, the elongated support having guideways each extendingfrom the marking end lengthwise and on opposite sides of the elongatedsupport, and a marking wire extending by way of the guideways betweenthe pair of spools so as to extend beyond the marking end and having theopposite ends thereof wound on arespective one of the pair of spools.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,701,417 2/1955 Graham 33-182,810,960 10/1957 Johnson et a1 3318 3,179,089 4/1965 Civitarese 33413,256,607 6/1966 Graham 33-32 LEONARD FORMAN, Primary Examiner. H. N.HAROIAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN APPARATUS FOR MARKING A MEMBER, THE COMBINATION OF A MARKINGDEVICE HAVING AN ELONGATED MOVABLE MARKING ELEMENT ARRANGED SO AS TOHAVE A PORTION THEREOF ENGAGEABLE WITH THE MEMBER, MEANS MANEUVERING THEMARKING DEVICE RELATIVE TO THE MEMBER, AND DRIVE MEANS ADAPTED TO TRAVELALONG THE MEMBER AND RECEIVE DRIVE THEREFROM, THE DRIVE MEANS BEING ALSOADAPTED TO TRANSFER THE DRIVE TO THE MARKING ELEMENT FOR MOVING THEMARKING ELEMENT LENGTHWISE IN SYNCHRONISM WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THEMARKING ELEMENT BY THE MANEUVERING MEANS SO THAT THE PORTION THEREOF INENGAGEMENT WITH THE MEMBER CHANGES TO FACILITATE DISTRIBUTION OF WEAR OFTHE MARKING ELEMENT AND ALSO TO FACILITATE THE MARKING OF A CONSTANTWIDTH MARK ON THE MEMBER.